


Wanting You

by TheZebraPainter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-11-27 02:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20941142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheZebraPainter/pseuds/TheZebraPainter
Summary: James wakes up one morning and discovers Lily Evans waiting at his door. Before he knows what's happening, his wildest dreams have come true - he just didn't realise how baffled it would make him...





	1. Call Me Lily

"James! James! You need to get up now!"

For a minute, James can't work out where this voice is coming from, why someone is shaking his shoulder when it's the middle of the night. And then he lifts his head up, bleary-eyed and blind, as Peter pulls back the curtains and the morning sun streams through. There's a cacophony of swearing from the bed to his right, and even in his sleep-deprived state, James knows Sirius didn't receive any prior warning about the light.

"Peter, fuck off, you little-"

"We all need to get to breakfast! Remember?" Peter insists. "James, you need to get up!"

"I am, I am…promise…"

Last night James was a stag, but this morning he's even slower than a sloth. The nights after a full moon takes it out of them all, but last night was particularly bad. James has forgotten just how bad, until he comes to wash his face under the tap and feels his left cheek stinging. There's a throbbing in his shoulder too, something he's going to have to remember to heal before Quidditch practise tonight. James won't complain though. The one who had it worst was Remus, although at least he was allowed a proper lie-in in the hospital wing. What James wants, more than anything, as he pokes himself in the eye trying to convince his glasses to sit on his nose, is just to go back to bed. But he's seen the determined look on Peter's face and knows he won't allow it.

Last month after the full moon, James and Sirius were forced to sit next to the Slytherin table in Potions. Along with the blood traitor comments and taunts about the upcoming Gryffindor-Slytherin match, there was Snape, making oblique references to their frequent absences at breakfast after a full moon, as well as the conspicuous absence of Moony. James and Sirius received a week of detentions for putting Snape in the hospital wing, and then they suffered through an uncharacteristically angry Remus, who'd had to endure Snape all day once he got there. So they couldn't sneak off to the kitchens, as they wanted. It had been agreed they'd take it in turns to wake the others up, in the spirit of fairness. Except – and James knows this because Sirius whined so much about it yesterday – it's Sirius' turn, not Peter's. And yet it's Peter who woke him up this morning.

"So Padfoot, why didn't you get us up this morning? It was your turn," James says as he stumbles around, trying to spot his tie on the bedroom floor.

The glare Sirius gives him could have set his hair on fire, if James hadn't been so immune to it after six years. "Peter wanted to do it."

James says, aghast at the thought, "He volunteered for this?"

"It's not like I was going to argue with him, is it?" Sirius says through a yawn. "Merlin, let's just go to breakfast so he stops acting like a prick."

Now it's Peter's turn to glare and this time James can feel heat. He's not used to Peter getting arsey with them.

Sirius laughs at it, making Peter snap, "For Remus, remember?"

"Peter", says Sirius, "you are exceptionally twitchy this morning. Are you sure you don't still have the tail?" He starts laughing again, walking past James to the door. "Oh!" His voice changes suddenly. "Morning Evans. What d'you want?"

Both Peter and James' heads snap in the direction of the door. James' brain suddenly thinks I wish I'd tidied up. His body, however, has muscle memory. His hand jumps automatically to his hair, not that it needs it this morning. Pain snakes up his shoulder in protest, but the whole of James suddenly feels lighter, brighter, as if Evans' name alone casts a spell on him.

None of them fails to miss her happy reply, "I want to see James!"

James. James.

The sound of his name in her voice – his first name, no less – makes his heart jump into his throat.

Sirius ducks his head back through the door to give him a Look. It's something James can't read, partly due to sleep-deprivation, and partly because Sirius has never given his that Look before. But then Sirius doesn't have to clarify.

Evans pushes past him, following Sirius' gaze to James' face. "Oh!" She giggles and then blushes.

What is happening?

James is rooted to the floor. In fact, he's not entirely sure he's not still dreaming.

"Hi, James," she says softly, and then biting her lip as she looks at him, with a look he's never, ever seen on her face before. If he didn't know any better, he'd say it was…lovey.

"Erm…hi, Evans." he stumbles. He looks over her head to Sirius, but Sirius is just as perturbed as he is.

At the sound of his voice, Evans blushes red again. "Oh James," she breathes. "Call me Lily."

All right, he's dreaming. He's dreaming because there's no way in hell this is happening. He opens his mouth to say it, but his traitorous tongue comes out with only -

"Lily," he says, and suddenly he realises that her eyes have slid to his mouth.

Then she launches herself at him and kisses him hard.


	2. In Another Life

Of course, James is no stranger to snogging – he’s snogged plenty of girls (well, two). But it’s never been quite like this. For one, he’s never wanted to snog someone so much in his life and for two, no girl has ever turned up outside his door and thrown herself onto him. 

And for three, Evans has never been remotely interested in him before. 

So when she does throw herself at him, his first reaction is not to do what he’s dreamed of for years, and grab hold of her waist with one hand, slide his other hand into her glorious hair. It’s to panic, completely.

Sirius is utterly confounded by it, but even he can’t fail to laugh at the sight of James pulling away, gesticulating wildly, gaping like a fish.

And it’s not that James doesn’t want to touch her, because he does, desperately. It’s only thanks to the fact his mouth betrayed him just a few seconds ago that he can remember to think about what’s happening before he says something and gets himself into trouble. But something in the back of his mind (the tiny, tiny part not occupied by Lily) is saying – _this isn’t right_. And that fact, that something isn’t right, is forcing him to wave his arms about, for fear that he does touch her and she hexes him for it as soon as she also realises something isn’t right.

His shoulder hates him for it, and so does the larger part of his brain, and other parts of his anatomy too, that he’d rather not think about at the moment.

As soon as he can gather together enough thoughts, he eloquently expresses them as “_What?_”. It comes out as a pant and the unintentional heat from it runs through him like a frisson. It goes through her too, and he can see it as she reaches back up for her mouth to connect to his again. Gesturing be damned, this time he kisses her back, cradling her head and he can feel her sigh into his mouth as a sign of approval.

Then she’s wrenched back from him and he gasps in protest. “Get _off_ me, Black!” he hears Lily shout, before a flash of light appears and a Shield Charm standing between them. 

“What in the name of Merlin is wrong with you, Evans?!” And before Sirius can get an answer, Lily launches herself at him – not to kiss him, but to punch every part of him available to her. James stands helpless, gormless, unable to remove the Shield Charm, unable to think past anything but that kiss. Suddenly he remembers – Peter. He turns around to stare and meets an incredulous gaze. 

“Pete,” James says, “what’s happening?”

And Peter looks back at him with wide eyes and says faintly “I have absolutely no idea”.

******

It takes an hour to calm Lily down, get a promise from her that she’s not going to kiss James again and persuade her to give her wand to Peter before Sirius agrees to remove the Shield Charm. Sirius keeps his wand out and points it at her. In another life, James would be pissed at Sirius for threatening her, but not in this life, the one where she hurries back to him and cups his face in her hands. Even with whatever’s happened to her, she has more of her wits about her, and this time, she doesn’t kiss James. It’s still very obvious in her face and her eyes (Merlin, those beautiful eyes) that she wants to, but she’s distracted by the scar on his cheek.

“James, you’re hurt,” she murmurs, in another tone he’s never had directed at him before.

“I…well – it’s not too bad,” James says weakly, not wanting her to stop.

“It is bad.” Peter pipes up from behind him. “It’s really sore, Ev- I mean, Lily. It’s really painful. He’s hurt his shoulder too.”

“Have you?” Lily says to James, one of her hands dropping to hover in front of his left shoulder.

“It’s the other one,” Peter supplies helpfully, and with that, Lily’s other hand comes down from James’ face to the hem of his shirt.

Heat hits James right in the face as he feels her fingertips at his hip, but before he can say anything at all, Sirius barks “Oi! Don’t you dare, Evans!” Sirius steps warningly towards her. Lily turns the full force of her death glare back on him. “I’m going to heal him!”

“No, you’re not,” Sirius says icily. “Evans, what have you eaten today?”A t the mention of food, James’ stomach rumbles. He’s completely forgotten that they all missed breakfast. Lily spins back to him. “Haven’t you eaten today, James?”

“Not yet,” he admits. “I got distracted…” and her face lights up in a smirk. 

“Distracted by what?” she says in a low voice, eyes staring up into his.

Sirius swears loudly. “Prongs, will you fucking get a grip! Evans, _what have you eaten today_?”

“Nothing! I’ve not had time, I got distracted too…” she winks at James. 

But James has caught up with Sirius’ thinking, because he quickly asks, “Lily, have you had anything to drink this morning?”

“Only water,” she shrugs.

Sirius’ eyes meet James, and in that instant, they’re both thinking the same thing. “It doesn’t matter!” Peter cuts in. “Lily, I thought you were going to heal James’ cheek?”

Before she can, Sirius says “Wormtail, will you shut up? We have bigger problems here than James’ sodding cheek. Evans, I think we should take James to the hospital wing and let Madam Pomfrey do it. What do you think, Prongs?”

Lily muses, “Where even do those silly nicknames come from?” And then, before Sirius can voice the offence shown clearly in his face, “James, I don’t mind if you want to go to Madam Pomfrey. But I’m coming with you.” She takes hold of his hand to confirm it. Her palm is soft and small in his, and their fingers entwine.

James shuts his eyes for a brief second. On any other day, in any other life, he’d be ecstatic. But today, he knows Lily isn’t acting of her right mind. She must have been slipped a love potion, or something. And despite her hand in his, the taste of her lips on his mouth, his skin coming up in goosebumps where her fingers brushed it, James is utterly dejected. Because he knows if she were in her right mind, none of it would have happened.

“Yeah,” he sighs, opening his eyes. “Let’s go to Madam Pomfrey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for this chapter! Next chapter - enter Remus!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 3 should be up this time next week.

**Author's Note:**

> What's wrong with Lily? 0.0
> 
> This is chapter one, and chapter two should be up by next Monday at the latest. I hope you liked it, please leave a review and let me know! Feel free to check out my other fanfiction as well.


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